Life, on the Line: A Chef's Story of Chasing Greatness, Facing Death, and Redefining the Way We Eat (Compact Disc)

Description

In 2007, chef Grant Achatz seemingly had it made. He had been named one of the best new chefs in America by "Food & Wine" in 2002, received the James Beard Foundation Rising Star Chef of the Year Award in 2003, and in 2005 he and Nick Kokonas opened the conceptually radical restaurant Alinea, which was named Best Restaurant in America by "Gourmet" magazine. Then, positioned firmly in the world's culinary spotlight, Achatz was diagnosed with stage IV squamous cell carcinoma--tongue cancer. The prognosis was grim, and doctors agreed that the only course of action was to remove the cancerous tissue, which included his entire tongue. Desperate to preserve his quality of life, Grant undertook an alternative treatment of aggressive chemotherapy and radiation. But the choice came at a cost. Skin peeled from the inside of Grant's mouth and throat, he rapidly lost weight, and most alarmingly, he lost his sense of taste. Tapping into the discipline, passion, and focus of being a chef, Grant rarely missed a day of work. He trained his chefs to mimic his palate and learned how to cook with his other senses. As Kokonas was able to attest, the food was never better. Five months later, Grant was declared cancer-free, and just a few months following, he received the James Beard Foundation Outstanding Chef in America Award. "Life, on the Line" tells the story of a culinary trailblazer's love affair with cooking, but it is also a book about survival, about nurturing creativity, and about profound friendship. Already much-anticipated by followers of progressive cuisine, Grant and Nick's gripping narrative is filled with stories from the world's most renowned kitchens--the French Laundry, Charlie Trotter's, el Bulli--and sure to expand the audience that made "Alinea" the number-one selling restaurant cookbook in America last year.

About the Author

Johnny Heller has narrated some five hundred books and garnered a bunch of swell awards and accolades, including "Publishers Weekly" Listen-Up Awards, Audie Awards and nominations, "AudioFile" Earphones Awards, and selection as one of "AudioFile" magazine's Top 50 Narrators of the 20th Century.

Praise For…

"Achatz and Kokonas share an engaging, well-written, and informative description of what it's like to work in commercial kitchens along with the stirring story of Achatz's fight for his life." ---Library Journal